Midsomer Murders fanfic No title just yet ch1
by dutchie2000
Summary: Okay, my attempt at a fanfic. I haven’t been doing this for a while, and it’s my fist Midsomer Murders fanfic. It has not title yet, that’s just my funny way, I often come up with one as I’m writing along, sometimes just near the end LoL I haven’t re
1. Chapter 1

**_Okay, my attempt at a fanfic. I haven't been doing this for a while, and it's my fist Midsomer Murders fanfic. It has not title yet, that's just my (funny) way, I often come up with one as I'm writing along, sometimes just near the end LoL_**

**_I haven't really paid all that much attention to spelling an or grammar. English is not my main language, this comes straight out of my head, translated from Dutch to English. So, I apologize in advance for spelling/grammar error you will without a doubt, stumble upon. I hope it won't ruin the reading fun, and you still will be able to enjoy it. _**

It was a nice sunny day when DS Ben Jones got out of his car at the parking lot of the Caustion police station. He spotted his DCI not far ahead, in conversation with a women unknown to him. The smile disappeared from his face as he got closer and could hear the tone of their conversation. " I only want to talk", he could hear the woman say. Jones knew his boss well enough to know the look he gave her was the friendliest he had. His reply sounded even less friendly; " There is nothing you and I have to talk about", at that DCI Tom Barnaby started walking towards the entrance of the building.

As the woman started to reply, " That may be your opinion --", Barnaby spun around, " I told you this before, now, I advise you to listen because I won't say it again: Stay away from me, and most of all; stay away from my family", the look in his eyes was unfamiliar cold to Jones and was enough to chill him to the bone. He walked closer to them as the woman started leaving and stopped right behind Barnaby who only now seemed to notice him. For the first time, the familiar trusted smile appeared on Barnaby's face.  
" Jones".  
" Good morning sir"  
" how was your vacation?"  
" oh, just fine, sir" Jones hesitated, " Are you all right, sir?"  
" Yes, I'm fine", at that, Barnaby walked into the station, with Jones right behind him.

Jones observed how Barnaby greeted the duty officer behind the desk with a barely notable nod, then barged into his office. The cop rolled his eyes as his met Jones's.  
" Hey", Jones greeted him. You saw the woman he was talking to outside, just now?". " " yeach".  
There was something in the tone of the young cop's voice, Jones didn't like.  
" Who is she?"  
"From what I've heard her name is Samantha McAllister, apparently a cop from the Met. But, whoever she might be, there's some pretty bad blood between her and the DCI, if you ask me".  
"Why would you say that?"  
"She came around here, a couple of times- ever since you started enjoying your tropical vacation- and _not_ to the Governor's delight "  
"Do you know why?", a puzzled Jones inquired.  
"Not one single clue. But it definitely wasn't helpful in improving his mood. I'm telling you…whatever energy you did up in the last two weeks, you're gonna need it, dealing with him"  
Jones nodded. Smiled slightly and walked on.

It didn't take Jones a long period of observation to realize something was definitely not right. Barnaby seemed, restless and distracted. Nervous even, and at one point Jones could have sworn he saw a flicker of fear in his DCI's eyes.  
Barnaby's voice took him back to the moment. " There's some youth's causing some trouble over at the Mall', he said while nodded at the phone. " Why don't you go over there and check things out, before things get out of hand', as if he was realizing the unusualness' of the request, Barnaby smiled, but it was a forced smile to Jones, " To get you back into things" , he added.  
" yes sir", Jones got up, but, at the door he turned and hesitantly asked; " Are you sure you are all right, sir?".  
Barnaby looked up from his papers, he didn't reply.  
" It's just that….I don't mean to intrude, but—"  
"Then don't", Barnaby replied ", not unfriendly, it was more the matter of fact tone, Jones knew so well, and made him realize it would be useless to push.  
After a slight nod, Jones turned, and almost bumped into Stephens, standing in the doorway. He put his hand on her arm and gently pulled her with him.

In the hallway Jones simply pointed into the direction of this office. " Oh yes", Stephens reacted. " _Something's_ bugging him, but don't ask _me_ what that something is"  
"When did this start?", Jones asked.  
Stephens thought for a while, " Let's see….It started around the time you left for your holiday, if I recall correctly, two days later, or something like that. Ever since then it's gotten from bad to worse, right to the point he's gotten pretty close to….well he _has_ gotten downright impossible to deal with, to be entirely honest"  
" Does it have anything to do with that cop from the Met…..Samantha, what's her name,  
That's been coming around here lately?", Jones asked after a short silence.  
"Samantha _McAllister_, yeach, well, that's seems to be the theory many seem to be holding", Stephens replied.  
"Who is she?', Jones asked.  
"Other than her name?....I don't have a clue And I thought better than asking _him_", she nodded at the open door of the office, lowering her voice even more.  
" Why not?  
"Because, with the mood he's been in lately, I feared he might blow a fuse if I did"  
Jones shook his head in stunned bewilderment. " That is totally unlike him".  
" You don't have to tell me"

Jones, again, shook his head, as if he wanted to shake his growing confusion 'of him. " All right. I gotta go….check something out, but, we need to talk. When I get back, all right?"  
" yeach, okay"  
"And, better keep your head low", Jones said after one last quick glance in the direction of the office.  
" Don't worry, I have had a lot of practice doing just _that_….we _all_ have, lately", Stephens laughed, but it was not the laughter Jones knew.


	2. Chapter 2

Constable Angel froze when he entered the office and witnessed how Tom Barnaby slammed down the phone, and besides himself with fury grabbed his jacked, cursing under his breath; ' that's it! I've had it with you'

" Are you all right", the young constable jumped out of the way as Barnaby brushed past him – " sir?" Taking a minute to catch his breath, Constable angel arrived in the hall just in time to see Barnaby rush out the door.

"What in the world was that about?", a female constable with a startled expression on her face, asked him. " I've never seen him like this before!" Constable Angel did nor reply but simply shook his head as a worried frown appeared on his face, he felt a slight relive when he saw DS Jones walking down the stairs, an walked up to meet with him.

"Have to managed to find out what's eating the DCI yet?", he asked.  
"Not yet. – why?"

" Well, because whatever it is, he just stormed out the door, ready to kill somebody, that's why"  
" Why didn't you stop him?", Jones asked more then a little annoyed.  
" Oh, I don't know…maybe because I wanted to live to see another day?"  
"Where did he go?" , Jones asked already halfway out the door. " Where'd he go?!", he asked louder when there was no reply.

" Not a clue, he wasn't in a talkative mood, you see?", constable Angel sounded increasingly unfriendly as well.

Ignoring him, Jones rushed into the parking lot. There was, of course, no sign of Barnaby. " Gail!", Jones shouted as he saw her getting out of her car. " Did you see him?".  
" Who?". Jones continued scanning the parking lot, " His car's gone", he then sighed. " trouble?", Gail Stephens asked while following his gaze.  
" yeach", Jones let out another deep sigh…." Trouble", and walked back inside.

Several hours later Ben Jones popped his head around the corner of the office. " Did he came back yet?"  
" I haven't seen him", Stephens replied.  
"Did he call?"  
"Nope "

" What the h—", Jones swallowed the remainder of his sentence. " What's going on here?!", he asked no one in particular, no longer able to hide his growing frustration.  
A uniformed cop entered the office. " Sorry, we just received a call from the palace – hotel- ", he added, " the manager discovered something disturbing and requests we check it out"

Jones nodded. "Okay, we'll handle it. And oh, when and if the DCI shows up, let him know where we are". The cop nodded and left. Jones looked back at Stephens, still sitting behind her desk. " What?"  
"Nothing….it's probably…..nothing", she looked and sounded hesitant.  
" But", Jones asked impatiently.  
" The palace…..that's where Samantha McAllister's staying, if I'm not mistaken", she then said. "I did some checking the last week, because….well, you know, because"—  
Jones nodded

Stephens smiled quickly: " Like I said, I'm sure it means nothing it's just , I couldn't help but notice"  
"yeach Jones nodded and again and without another word, walked out of the office.

"And this is how you found the place", Jones asked the manager while looking around the hotel room and took the ravage of furniture, tr the room and the multiple blood stains on the floor. The manager looked pale. " yes…no", he replied and Jones had to himself to hear what the man was saying. " Marc over here", he nodded in the direction of a young man in the doorway. " there was a call, you see? And when he called there was no reply….he found that a bit, odd, since he had seen her go up to her room not long before. So, he went up to see if something---", the man looked around the room.  
"All right…have you touched anything?', Jones asked.

The man shook his head, while Jones s gently pushed the young man into the hallway. " let's talk here', he said, using a friendly tone. " So when you arrived here…there was no sign of Miss McAllister?"  
Marc shook his head. "No. I knocked, but there came no reply. So I knocked again, still nothing, so…I put my hand on the door handle, and realized it wasn't locked, so...I went in…just to see if something was wrong, you know?"

Jones nodded while taking his notes. "And then?"  
"And then…I saw this...this mess", Marc stared to the room, " and I called out, but…there was no one there…"  
"Okay….prior to this, have you seen or heard—"  
" Hey, wait a minute", Marc interrupted him. "What's he doing here? How's that?"  
Jones followed his look and saw Barnaby had arrived. " That's my boss", Jones replied somewhat puzzled.  
" Your boss"?, Marc's eyes grew wide  
" Yes, DCI Barnaby….why?"  
Marc laughed, "okay, you know what? I didn't hear anything, I didn't see anything, all right? Just forget it. I'm out of here!"

He was already near the elevators before Jones managed to catch up with him. " Whoa, whoa, take it easy", he pulled Marc by the arm forcing him to stop and turn around.  
"What do you mean? What's up?"  
"Look….he was here! All right?!", Marc exclaimed  
"he was here…what do you mean?", the puzzled Jones asked.  
"He was here, at the hotel!", marc repeated. " I saw him heaving this heated 'conversation' with her…or conversation, ….I'm telling you, he was livid, I thought he was going to kill her!"  
Jones could feel his heart pounding in his chest, and could only hope Marc couldn't hear it

"When was this?", he then asked.  
Marc reluctantly shook his shoulders, " I don't know…two…three hours ago perhaps? Look, I already told you, I didn't hear anything, I didn't see anything. All right?! I don't want to have anything to do with this!"  
"You will have to give a statement, sir", Jones warned him.

"Try and make me", Marc defiantly answered. " he's a copper! Forget it!", then, as to underline his words, he rushed down the stairs.

Jones felt his legs felt like stone as he walked over to Barnaby. " What have we got?', the DCI asked. Jones tried to read his face, but other than the signs of fatigue, he though he had spotted before, there wasn't much he could make of Barnaby's expression.

"Do you know who's room this is, sir?', he then asked as casual as he could. "Yeach, yeach…they just told me…is she all right?"

"For your sake, I hope she is, sir", the words were out before Jones realized it. But Barnaby did not seem to even hear what he was saying, it was as if he was miles away. Jones cleared his throat. " She's disappeared, sir. The room is a war zone, there's blood all over the place, but there is no sign of Samantha McAllister". Barnaby did not reply other than give Jones the blank stare he had ever since arriving on the scene. He then walked into the hotel room. Where George Bullard already had put his team to work.

" A victim less crime, Tom?', he asked. Barnaby smiled and empty smile and walked though the room. Jones watched his every move not knowing what to feel or think.

" Tom!...you know better than that!". Bullard's outcry returned Jones to the matters at hand. When he looked up, he saw how Barnaby placed the iron bar, Bullard had carefully placed on the table, back. "Sorry", the DCI again smiled empty. As he pulled his hand back, Jones could feel the blood draw from his face as his eye caught the nasty brushing on Barnaby's right hand.

Barnaby turned suddenly and quickly towards Jones, their eyes met, and without taking them of Jones, Barnaby slipped his right hand into his pocket, then walked out.  
"Jones", he called him from the hallway, with his back tuned. Jones walked over. "I think it's better you take over for now"

"Sir?', Jones wasn't quite sure how he must have sounded to the DCI. When he turned around to face him. Again, there was that emptiness in his gaze, but this time Jones saw more, so much more, and what he saw did not make him feel better in the least.  
"You know what to do", Barnaby simply said. Jones could do nothing but stare as he then walked away, down the stairs.


	3. Chapter 3

Ben Jones was still in a confused daze when he arrived back at the station. Once again, Barnaby's empty desk was notable.

"Where is he now?", Jones asked in exasperation and frustration"

"I wouldn't know", Gail Stephens replied. " He came in, took some papers, and left again". Jones shook his head

"Are you all right?", Stephens asked.

" Oh yeach, I'm fine!", Jones snapped, immediately followed by an apologetic, " sorry, I didn't mean—I'm sorry. But, **No** I am **not** all right…..Do you have any idea where he might have gone?

"Home perhaps?"

"without letting us know?", Jones again asked with little patience. not much later he was out the door as well.

Not much later Jones arrived at the Barnaby home, where Joyce opened the door. She was trying very hard to appear as her usual self, but failed miserably in Jones's eyes.

"Ben….come on in"

When Jones walked into the kitchen and saw his DCI, he could tell Barnaby was not pleased to see him. What was more, he looked even worse than he had looked earlier that day, he looked…Jones didn't even know what words to use to describe the state Barnaby was in. was it anger? Fear? Both? Whatever it was, Jones never before had seen him like this and it only increased his own worries.

"I've been looking all over for you, Sir", he then said.

"Well, it looks as if you found me", Barnaby replied again with a forced friendly smile.

"You didn't say you went home" The look in Barnaby's eyes got colder as he got up. " I wasn't aware, sergeant, I had to answer to you"

Jones was taken aback by his reaction. He had been the target of Barnaby's less than pleasant moods before, and the rare occasions it happened, he was always to take the first brunt of it, he felt. And it wasn't like he had never put Jones in his place if he felt it was needed. But that was mostly done in a teasing, sometimes tutoring manner. But never like this. This was Tom Barnaby pulling rank on him, and he wasn't trying to hide it either.

The first impact of Barnaby's words faded and now Jones's anger took over. "What happened to your hand, sir?", he asked. Making sure he sounded as defiant as he could. When Barnaby sharply tilted his head to face him, Jones noted a flicker of fury in his eyes he had never seen before , and for a few seconds, feared the worst. But as quickly as Barnaby's anger flared, it disappeared again.

"just a little accident", he replied in his usual calm as matter of fact tone, but Jones knew there was nothing usual about this entire day. He tried to stand his ground for as long as he could, but ultimately allowed Barnaby's chilling gaze to stare him down.

mood. " Jones….if I recall correctly, I left you in charge of the investigation, back at the hotel"

"Yes, sir"

"So, what are you doing here?"

" I just wanted to make sure everything was all right", Jones replied.

"Okay, well, now that you have assured yourself that **is** the case", Barnaby paused to look up to Jones as if he wanted to make sure his sergeant was wise enough not to disagree, " I assume you can go back doing just that".

" I will sir, but there are a few things that need to be cleared up here", Jones protested.

"Jones", Barnaby's voice was dangerously low as he walked up to him, making Jones, unconsciously, take several steps back.

" I assume that somewhere in your life someone once told you there are moments there are boundaries that should not be crossed". When Jones did not reply Barnaby assumed the answer was yes, and continued. "This is one of those moments you are dangerously close in doing just that. So, I would advise you to drop it, and drop it now!"

"Tom!", Joyce Barnaby who until then had stayed out of things, intervened. "That's enough! Ben's only being a friend". But Barnaby was relentless. " A friend is not what I need right now. What I **need** is my Sergeant to start following orders!" "Yes sir", the stung Jons replied staring back at him. " I'll keep in touch", and without another word he left the house.

The moment Jones slammed the door behind him, Barnaby hung his head, to turn and smile slightly as his felt Joyce's hand on his shoulder. "He doesn't understand", she said.

Barnaby nodded, " I know", he sighed. " But at the moment, for his **and** our sake I think , the less he knows the better"

"What are you going to do?", Joyce asked

Barnaby laughed, " The truth?"

Joyce only gave him a look.

Barnaby sighed again, " the truth is, I have no idea"

When Jones stood outside the house, he, much to his irritation realized his hands were were trembling. Not out fear for his DCI, he firmly told himself. And he knew that was the truth. His fear was brought on by something he did not even want to think about.

When Jones arrived back at Causton station he mood was such he feared for the safety of he first person saying something that would be disagreeable to him. The first person putting him to the test was George Bullard. " Ben, could you tell me what the **hell** is going on here"?, the agitated doctor asked. Jones couldn't help but laugh. " You know what? I've been hoping someone would tell **me** from early this morning!" Bullard ignored him, " I just read the forensics report", he handed it to Jones and waited for his reaction. When Jones looked up after reading the paper, in stunned amazement, Bullard nodded grim; " His finger prints are all over that room! What in the world has he been up to?!"

Jones closed his eyes for a few seconds. " I wish I knew", he replied softly. He then shifted his focus back to George Bullard. " How long can you sit on this?"

"I have two court meetings, by the time those are over…..tomorrow, but I really can't hold it back much longer than that", Bullard replied.

Jones nodded. " Find out what's going on!", Bullard said as he started to leave.

"What d you think I've been doing?", Jones replied into open space. He reached for his buzzing cell phone, it was Stephens. " We've found a body", was all she said.

"McAllister?", Jones asked having trouble breading.

"hard to tell", she replied after a short silence. " And Ben…there is more….much more"


	4. Chapter 4

" Butchered to death", George Bullard looked grim while Jones stood over the body.

" Male or female?", was all he asked. "Definitely female", was the answer. " I'll give you a more accurate estimate about the time of death" Jones nodded. " No idea?', he asked when looking over at Stephens. " No, but we found this". She handed him a warrant card, and not for the first time since the bizarre events unfolded upon his return, Jones s heart skipped a beat, " Samantha McAllister", he read out loud.

"And this was found near the body?". " yeach, just a little back, near the bushes"

" When you called, you said there was more", Jones said when shifting his attention for the body to Stephens, but before she replied he heard George Bullard mutter behind him; " I knew there'd be trouble when she showed up her".

Jones spun around the face him. " You _know_ her?", he asked with a mixture of surprise and relieve someone finally might be able to shed some light on matters.

Bullard hesitated before replying, seemingly regretful he even opened his mouth to begin with. "I know _of_ her", he finally replied.

"So, what can you tell me?', Jones asked hopeful. Bullard was clearly in troubled doubt , then finally sighed and said. " Nothing".

"Nothing???, but you just _said_ –"

"I said I know of her", Bullard continued his sentence. " And _what_ I know, I was told in trust"….Again Jones nodded, " and _were_ you told of this by who I _think_ it was who told you?" Bullard nodded, sighing again.

"Okay, fine, then…you tell me, what he told you", Jones offered, hopefully.

" I can't", Bullard replied, clearly regretful. And upon seeing the expression on Jones's face, added; " if I were to do that I would betray the trust given to me, and I can't do that. No…I'm sorry, Ben. You'll have to talk to Tom"

" I _have_ talked to Tom", Jones replies not able to hide his frustration. " But _Tom_ isn't willing to talk to me!" "I'm sorry, you'll just have to try again", was all Bullard said. " I don't see how that could do any good, because he clearly doesn't trust me, al least, not _enough_ to tell me what is going on", Jones looked as if he was willing do drag Bullard's knowledge out of him if he had to.

A sympathetic smile appeared on Bullard's face. " Oh, come on now, Ben, you know better, or maybe, you _should_ know better than that. If Tom wants to keep you out of this, it's _not_ because he doesn't trust you . He's doing that for reason's entirely different and you know exactly what they are" "Yeach, it _means_ he's in serious trouble", Jones replied, still cranky. Then, softening his tone, "Please, give me something I can go on here…_anything_ "

Again Bullard remained silent for a while, then finally said, " Find out _why_ he left the Met. _Something_ caused him to leave. You find out what that something is…. You can probably fill in the blanks yourself". When Jones looked at him with a puzzled look across his face, he added. "That's all I'm willing to tell you, Ben. Maybe I already said too much". Ad this, Bullard turned and focused his attention back to the job at hand.

Only now Jones noticed Stephens trying to catch his attention, at the very same time he saw a dark car pulling up and a man and women getting out. " That must be them", she said. " Them, who?", Jones asked. " The Met", she only replied keeping her eyes on the two approaching. Jones did not say a word.

"Look, just after I got here, I got a call from Crabb".

"Crabb?!", Jones now replied in disbelieve.

"Okay, yeach…I know there _are_ those who have trouble with him, but believe me, when a war breaks out, he definitely is one of those people you would love to have in your team….take my word for it"

"You are expecting a war?", Jones asked somewhat troubled

"After what Crabb told me…..yeach, I do", she replied.

Before he could ask for details, Jones' cell phone rang again

He furiously looked at Stephens, while putting his cell phone away. " You knew", he snapped. " I _knew _what Crabb told me, what he picked _up_ on. That the Mett's been in contact with HQ and they were on their way over" Jones still could not contain his anger. "Well, that was HQ he said. As of know we are no longer in charge of this investigation and are to give full cooperation to—

"I'm extremely glad to hear that", a middle aged man interrupted him, smiling a forced friendly smile, while briefly waving a warrant card. " I'm DI Mike Wallace', the nodding at the woman next to him, " and this is DS Angela White. "We've been ordered to investigate the disappearance of our colleage…a disappearance they might have turned into a murder', he added while looking at the covered body. " I trust we can count on that full cooperation", he then said. Without waiting for a reply he and Angela White starting walking over to George Bullard.

*


	5. Chapter 5

When Ben Jones busted into the Barnaby house, injured pride and , he felt, justified anger, made him in no mood to mince words, tiptoe around sensitive subjects, or to remember the discipline, he never had trouble to obey by previously when it came when addressing his DCI

" Don't tell me that instead of pestering you I should be investigating the case, sir", he started with his anger only very thinly disguised, ' because I no longer _am_ I charge of the investigation". Barnaby replied only with an accepting smile. " Well…I can' say I'm really surprised". " really?!, well I am!", Jones snapped, not taking the time to be stunned by his own anger, directed at his boss.

" I was _very_ surprised when I was told that, ' in light of the history between you and Samantha McAllister' it was considered better I would not be leading this investigation! And let me tell you, so was George Bullard when _he_ was told that in light with his friendship with you, they ought it better to ship the body we just found, to London for the postmortem!"

When he finally stopped to catch his breath, anticipating Barnaby's angered reaction to his tone of voice, he was caught of guard by his reaction. There was no anger, no notable anger, that is, only a slightly amused smile with which Barnaby observed him. " Are you done, Jones, or should I expect more?", he asked. "What is going on, Sir?', Jones then exclaimed. " I can't help you, unless you tell me".

The smile disappeared form Barnaby's face, when he replied. " I don't know if that's a wise thing to do, Jones. " With all respect, Sir, I think that's _my_ decision to make", he replied with considerable less anger, but not less determined to help. " With or without your help, I am going to find out what's going on here "

"If you don't tell him, I will Tom", Joyce Barnaby entered from the kitchen. Barnaby looked at her, with a slight irritation. "He has the right to know", Joyce continued ignoring that. " If you don't tell him…I will", she repeated. " I'm late picking up Cully from the train station…it will give you enough time to tell Ben what he needs to know",

She kissed him an the cheek, then walked to the door, turning around to give him one more meaningful look. "Tell him", she insisted. While the door closed behind her, Barnaby sighed, then dropped his head. " Okay", he defeated gestured towards the couch in the living room. " Let's get this over with".

Twenty minutes later, Jones stared in front of him, trying to comprehend what he just learned. It took a few more minutes for him to gather the nerves to ask; " so…back in London, you…. You and Samantha McAllister….you were having –"

"No", Barnaby interrupted him, "I was not", he stressed the last, calmly without raising his voice but it was enough for Jones to take him at his word. Barnaby got up, staring into the backyard in silence, for what seemed like minutes to Jones. " But I wouldn't be surprised if there are those who would like to convince you otherwise", he finally said, softly, without turning back to him. "That doesn't matter, Sir", Jones answered. "If you say there wasn't, that's good enough for me". A warm smile appeared on Barnaby's face as he then checked his watch.

" There's just one thing I don't get ", Jones then carefully started. " When you went to the hotel….to, you know, to tell her of…what brought that on?"

Barnaby turned back around to face him, seemingly surprised " Cully", he then just said.

"Cully?", Jones set up, slightly alarmed " What about her?"

"When she started pulling Cully into this mess, that's when she crossed the line, and I made that very clear to her". " When you went to the hotel', Jones added.

Barnaby nodded, with a slight hesitation. " You were seen, Sir….and overheard arguing with her" Now, Barnaby seemed genuinely surprised. " By who?", he asked, then realizing he was putting Jones on the spot with the question he added; " Well, whoever it was, Jones, he or she must have been in the hotel room"

Now, it was Jones' surprise to look surprised. "When you confronted McAllister?". Barnaby nodded. " I may have acted utterly stupid but I'm not so stupid as to tell her off in a public place filled with people". Jones looked puzzled. " he didn't say that…that he was in the room, I mean…but then again, I didn't ask him fically, specifically, I'll have to ask him". Barnaby nodded, once again checking his watch.

"One more thing sir", Jones said, making Barnaby look u, distracted. "Are you sure, there isn't something you are not telling me?". Barnaby didn't reply, but looked at him with surprise. "Meaning", he asked, narrowing his eyes a little.

"It's just, when you arrived at the hotel, later….you picked up that iron bar—"

Barnaby laughed briefly with a pained expression on his face. " yeach, that was a stupid thing to do, but…my head wasn't really with it…obviously"….

Jones nodded, " yeach, it's just that…your finger prints were found all over the room, sir, not just –', he stopped when Barnaby abruptly got up, for the third time checking his watch . " Joyce's staying away awfully long, don't you think?", he said.

Realizing Barnaby wasn't entirely wrong, Jones tried to shrug it off. " The train's probably delayed ", he said with a smile . Barnaby nodded, but started walking up and down the room, restless, to come to an abrupt standstill, when the front door opened and Cully walked in. Barnaby looked at her for less then a few seconds, then asked, " where's your mother?"

"Hi, dad", cully smiled. " I waited for about 15 minutes, but no one showed, I tried to call, but my battery was dead", she shrugged. " I thought something must have come up so I took a c—"

Before she could finish, Barnaby rushed out the door, with Jones close behind him. Leaving a bewildered Cully behind.

*


	6. Chapter 6

Jones's Blue Volkswagen had trouble keeping up with Barnaby's fast black Jaguar. When he disappeared form sight within tow minutes Jones was level headed enough to realize it was useless to keep trying. "I know where you're going", he said to himself keeping his foot on the gas, but taking of some of the pressure he knew his car would not keep up much longer.

"What the hell is going on?", he heard himself ask, and not for the first time that day.

Barnaby's car, meanwhile several minutes ahead of Jones's by now, came to a screeching stop when he spotted Joyce's car on the edge of the woods, his heart pounded in his chest when he ran over, with a million things, he did not to think about rushing through his head

"Joyce!!", the sound of his voice was desperate when he heard her call out "Tom! I can't get out!"

When he reached the car Barnaby felt like crying when he saw she seemed unharmed. "Are you all right?", he asked out of breath. "What happened" she the window down further, "I'm fine, but, I can't get out. There's something with the seat belt, I can't get it to unlocked". Barnaby reached for the door and pulled, only to discover it was stuck. He stood back to observe the damage to the car and noticed the dent at the door on the drivers side, caused where the car the tree. "okay, I'll try to get to you from the other side, just—

"Tom, look out!", at her scream Barnaby turned just in time to see a hooded figure, dressed in black appear behind him, he ducked making the figure only hit him half on his left shoulder, but the blast was hard enough to make him loose his balance. And fall backwards. As he struggled to get back on his feet, the hooded figure approached fast and kicked him between the ribs , making him land on his back again. Anger made him get up faster than he thought possible, only to land back on his back again after a second devastating kick.

He winced as he moved but his rage and fear for Joyce's safety made him struggle to get back on his feet .As he barely stood, unsteady, a third kick followed. This time Barnaby went down hard, again landing on his back, but this time, without the strength to get back up again. As he struggled not to pass out a shout sounded though the otherwise silent woods "hey!"

Never before in his life Barnaby's was this happy to hear Jones's voice. Coming from a far. "Hey!", the young sergeant came running through the woods, faster than the speed of sound, or so it seemed The hooded figure looked up, startled, than started running of in opposite direction.

The minute Jones arrived on the scene his interest for the hooded figure making his escape disappeared as he worriedly stood over his DCI "Are you all right Sir?", Jones asked hardly out of breath after his long sprint

'I'm fine", Barnaby replied, trying to get up, but felt back repressing a moan The worried Jones kneeled next to him, "Don't get up, all right?, maybe you cracked a rib or something, just—

Despite Jones's gentle push to keep him down, Barnaby struggled to sit up, "worry about me later, we need to get Joyce out of….what's the smell?", he suddenly asked.

Both man exchanged looks when they recognized what caused the strong scent

"Joyce!" Ignoring his injuries Barnaby got to his feet and rushed towards the car . "Sir, don't", Jones yelled, "It's gonna blow!"……


	7. Chapter 7

Barnaby was surprisingly fast making his way over to the car seemingly deaf for Jones's warnings., who after only a slight hesitation rushed after him, making his way to the other door.  
"Jones, no use, it's stuck", Barnaby said while opening the door on his side. "Are you all right?", Joyce asked the minute he did, looking both scared and alarmed.  
Barnaby managed to smile, "I've been worse. Now, let's get you out of here". He made sure to sound as calm as he could in fear she would panic should she realize how dicey the situation was That didn't really work, however, since Joyce had already picked up on the same scent both Barnaby and Jones had and tried to pull herself free.

"No Joyce, please, sit still, don't move, you are making it even….I'll get you out of here, I promise, all right?" She looked up at him and nodded, but Barnaby could see the fear in her eyes, making him even more angry. He leaned over to give the seat belt a hard pull, but slammed over in pain the minute he did.

Jones rushed to the other side of the car to take over, but he too was not able to release the seat belt, there were traces of panic in his eyes when he looked at Barnaby. "My car, the dashboard", Barnaby said, "there has to be a knife in there, go get it . Jones nodded, looked at his DCI for a second, then ,realizing saying what he wanted to say would be useless , he took off, rushing through to woods to the car, ignoring the branches slamming in his face and remaining on his feet while tripping more than once over a He expected to be rocked by a blast with every step he took and he knew Joyce was trapped and Barnaby would not move an inch away from the car and her

Panic raced though him when he reached the Jaguar; it wasn't locked, was it? He let out a sigh of relief when the door flipped open, ruffled through the dashboard and found the knife faster than he could have hoped for. He ran back even faster, knowing full well the clock was ticking.  
Barnaby stepped aside when Jones returned. "okay, Mrs. B, let's get you out of this car", he cut the seat belt and helped her climb over the other chair, 'and lets get ourselves far away from here", he then added.

They had just reached the edge of the woods when behind them a blast occurred that shook the earth beneath their feet. All three of them tuned their heads, watching the flames that followed, none of them speaking a word. They walked on to the cars in silence, there, Barnaby stopped and looked at his sergeant  
Jones had a sheepish laugh on his face, "Sorry sir, but your 'parked' your car right behind the dent in the road, I didn't see it, until it was too late ….it's only a tail light', he added quickly. "I hope you've got a good insurance", was Barnaby's only reply. after that he winced in pain. No longer able to stay on his feet he lowered himself and lend against a tree, closing his eyes.

"All right, we better get you to a hospital to—  
Barnaby immediately opened his eyes when Jones spoke and tried to get up, unsuccessfully so, due to the fact that only now, he began to feel the extend of his injuries. "No hospital", he managed to reply "Sir", Jones started to protest but was cut of by Barnaby. "I'm fine!"  
"Yeach, you look really fine, too", Jones replies sarcastically but swallowed the rest of his sentence down after Barnaby shot him a look.  
"Do you have any idea who it was that attacked you, sir?", Jones then asked. Barnaby laughed. "No, he didn't properly introduce himself first"  
"He? So, it was a guy then?" "I certainly hope so", Barnaby replied. "Because if not, the biggest damage might be on my ego", he tried to get up again, but himself back seemingly in increasing pain.  
"Tom!, Ben is right. This is ridiculous we need to get you to a hospital!', Joyce now stepped in, still looking very shaken. "No hospital", Barnaby repeated.  
Joyce looked at Jones and sighed, "right, this is no use, we might as well give up now or we'll still be standing here tomorrow". Jones nodded and Joyce returned her attention to her husband.  
"Fine, no hospital. But I will call George Bullard and ask him to come over to make sure you are all right. And you can spare me your objections, or I'll drive you over to the hospital myself right now". Barnaby opened his mouth to say something, but changing his mind closed it again without saying a word. Jones quickly turned his hide to hide the grin on his face., then turned back asking , "Can you get up, sir?"  
"Yes!", Barnaby replied annoyed enough to keep Jones from moving when he got to his feet, staggering. "I'll follow you home", he just said while walking to his car. "And don't worry sir, my insurance covers this …I think"

When they arrived at the Barnaby house, Cully opened the door. Her slightly amused look when she saw the car, changed to a puzzled look as saw the expression on the faces of Jones and her mother, to concern when she saw her father getting out of the car.  
"What happened?", she asked while rushing over. Barnaby kindly but firmly declined her offer of assistance while he made his way into the house. " "What happened?", she asked again closing the door behind them.  
"Cully, will you please call George Bullard and ask him to come over here?', Joyce just asked. "Can someone please tell me what happened?!", Cully asked while walking over to the phone. "Is he all right?"  
"He claims he is", Joyce now replied, while helping Barnaby onto the couch. "But I would like George to confirm that…I'll explain later, just call him"

While Cully was on the phone, Stephens arrived at the house, Jones let her in. "I thought it better to call her, sir", Jones explained. Barnaby nodded but did not reply. "What happened to him?", Jones asked, looking worried. Jones pulled her aside, and spoke softly. "he was attacked…as matter of fact I'm pretty certain they both were attacked one way or the other"  
"What?!"Jones quickly set out the events for her, then continued. "From what I've seen, I'm pretty certain her car was forced of the road, somehow. I haven't been able to ask her yet, there were other things we had to take care of first

"But, who attacked him…them?", Stephens asked. "I don't know!", Jones replied in exasperation. "None of this is making any sense! None of it.", he took a couple of breaths. "I don't know. I only saw him…her…briefly. Average height, hooded, dark clothes", he nodded into Barnaby's direction. "He/She attacked him when he tried getting Mrs. Barnaby out of the car"

A frown appeared on Stephens face. "Ben…just when I drove up here, there was a call, on the radio, about a car in flames in the woods nearby – are you telling me—"  
Jones nodded, "I don't even want to think what would have happened if we hadn't managed to get her out of the car when we did "  
"I'll tell you what would have happened!", Stephens replied in a sharp tone of voice, "The three of you would have been dead now!" "I didn't do anything he wouldn't have". Jones replied softly.

Then after a short silence, "Gail, there's something really weird going on here".  
"You don't say!", she replied sarcastically  
"yeach, I mean… Like I just said, I didn't really have the time to talk to Mrs. B yet, but the thing that puzzles me…the attacker….why did he wait so long coming out? "  
"What do you mean?', the puzzled Stephens asked.  
"Well, her car was forced of the road, it was just sitting there ….. she couldn't get out, but he…she…did not show up until the DCI got there…"  
"So…he or she must have been waiting for him to show up…?", Stephens thought with him.  
"He must have", Jones replied. Then shook his head. "Ben, what the hell is going on here?', Stephens asked "I wish I knew…but, the more thinking I'm doing the less sense all of this is making!' Frustration was written all over his face

After another silence he turned back to Stephens.  
"Okay, here what I want you to do. Make sure he doesn't hear you, okay?"  
"Call this in, and tell them I want I car parked in front of the house ASAP. At least for tonight." Stephens nodded and stepped outside the house to make the call.  
When she returned few minutes later, Jones immediately noticed to worried looks on her face. "What's the matter? Did you take care of it?"  
"yes, I did, the game's n motion, but there's also something you are not going to like… this Wallace….he's looking for you and he want to talk to you…at the station"  
"Now?", Jones asked in disbelieve.  
"Yes, right now, as I understood…it has something to do with a statement someone gave at the hotel, a statement he pointedly said you neglected to put in your report—"  
"How the hell did he find that out?', Jones asked.  
"You'll have to ask him, the point is, Ben….the kid is dead!"  
"Oh, hell!', Jones exclaimed closing his eyes, just as George Bullard arrived at the house


End file.
